JPH0548916A - Color image device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a color image device which can print by the smallest number of times of development process. CONSTITUTION:A memory 31 to store printing color information, an interface cable 32 to transfer the color information from a controller 17 to an engine 19 and a memory 33 at the engine 19 side to store the transferred color information are provided. Thus, by performing the developing process of the necessary minimum limit, the printing time can be shortened.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a color image device for performing color printing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, color image devices used in various types of color electrophotographic devices have been developed.

A conventional color image device will be described below with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIG. 10, an image processing device (hereinafter abbreviated as a controller) 2 and an image forming device (hereinafter abbreviated as an engine) 4 are provided. In particular, the engine 4 includes a detailed portion of the image forming unit 34. To control. Here, the image forming unit 34 includes a developing device (yellow) 5, a developing device (magenta) 6, and a developing device (cyan).
7, a developing device (black) 8, a laser unit 9, a photoconductor 10 and an intermediate transfer member 11 are provided, and the paper 14 is sent from the paper cassette 13 to the fixing device 15 through the transfer roller 12. ing.

The operation of the color image device configured as described above will be described below. First, the color printing procedure will be described with reference to FIG. 10. The print data of each color from the computer is taken into the controller 2 in the printer main body via the cable 1, and cyan, magenta,
Page data is created for each of the yellow and black components. Next, a print signal is input from the controller 2 to the engine 4 via the video interface cable 3. Here, the engine 4 controls to turn on motors such as the photoconductor 10, the intermediate transfer body 11, the transfer roller 12, the laser unit 13, which are detailed portions of the image forming unit 34, and the photoconductor 10 and the intermediate transfer. Body 1
1. Rotate the transfer roller 12 and the like to prepare for laser emission. Next, a vertical synchronizing signal is input from the engine 4 to the controller 2. On the other hand, the controller 2 sends the black data to the engine, the engine 4 sends the data to the laser unit 13, and the laser light is emitted.
It is irradiated and exposed to the top. Next, the developing device (black) 8 is brought close to the photoconductor 10 to develop the photoconductor 10.
Generate a visible image on top. This image is transferred from the photoconductor 10 to the intermediate transfer body 11, and a black visible image is transferred onto the intermediate transfer body 11. These operations are similarly performed for cyan, magenta, and yellow, respectively, to form a visible image layer of each color on the intermediate transfer body 11. Next, the intermediate transfer member 1
The sheet 14 is fed from the sheet cassette 13 at the timing when the visible image on the sheet 1 is placed on the sheet 14, and the intermediate transfer member 11
Then, the transfer roll 12 is biased and the transfer is performed on the paper 14. Next, the visible image is formed on the paper 14 by the fixing device 15.
Then, the printing is completed.

Next, each timing will be described with reference to FIG. A print signal a is input from the controller 2 to the engine 4, and in response to this, the engine 4 rotates each motor and the like to prepare for printing. Next, a vertical synchronizing signal b for determining the timing to start writing an image is output from the engine 4 to the controller 2, and in synchronization with the vertical synchronizing signal b, a video signal such as black data, cyan data, magenta data, or yellow data. c is sent from the controller 2 to the engine 4, outputted from the laser unit 9 to the photoconductor 10, and developed by the developing devices 5, 6, 7, and 8.

[0006]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional configuration, the engine side has no print information,
Printing process is performed for each color (cyan, magenta, yellow, black) because process steps (exposure, development, transfer) are performed, and even if all developed colors are not required, process steps are performed for all colors. Had a problem that it became long.

The present invention solves the above-mentioned conventional problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a color image device in which the process steps are performed a minimum number of times.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, a color image device of the present invention comprises a detection means for detecting color information for printing in a controller, a memory for storing the color information, and a color. An interface signal line for transmitting information to the engine side and a memory for storing color information in the engine are provided.

[0009]

According to the present invention having the above-mentioned constitution, it is sufficient to process only the developing color which requires the process step, and the printing time can be minimized.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.
Will be described with reference to.

As shown in FIG. 1, the controller 17 and the engine 19 are the same as in the conventional example, except that the memory 31 is attached to the controller 17 and the memory 33 is attached to the engine 19. What they are doing is different. The image forming unit 34 includes a developing device (yellow) 20, a developing device (magenta) 21, a developing device (cyan) 22, a developing device (black) 23, a laser unit 24, a photoconductor 25, and an intermediate transfer member 26. And the paper 29 from the paper cassette 28 passes through the transfer roller 27 and the fixing device 3
It is similar to the conventional example in that it is configured to be sent to 0.

The operation of the color image device configured as described above will be described with reference to FIG. First, the procedure of color printing will be described. The print data of each color from the computer is taken into the controller 17 in the printer body via the cable 16, and the cyan, magenta,
Page data is created for each of the yellow and black components. At this time, color information (cyan,
Magenta, yellow, and black) are stored in the memory 31. Next, the print signal a is input from the controller 17 to the engine 19 via the video interface cable 18. At this time, color information is output to the engine 19 via the interface cable 32, and this information is stored in the memory 33. In response to the print signal a, the engine 19 controls the motors such as the photoconductor 25, the intermediate transfer body 26, the transfer roller 27, and the laser unit 24 to turn on, and the photoconductor 25, the intermediate transfer body 26,
The transfer roller 27 and the like are rotated to prepare for laser emission. Next, the vertical synchronizing signal is transmitted from the engine 19 to the controller 17 using one of the interface cables 32. On the other hand, the controller 1
In 7, when black information is stored in the memory 31, black data is sent to the engine 19, and the engine 19 sends the data to the laser unit 24 in the image forming section 34, and laser light is irradiated on the photoconductor 25 for exposure. .. Next, the developing device (black) 23 is brought close to the photoconductor 25 to perform development, and a visible image is generated on the photoconductor 25. This image is transferred from the photoconductor 25 to the intermediate transfer member 26, and a black visible image is transferred onto the intermediate transfer member 26. These operations are similarly performed for cyan, magenta, and yellow to form a visible image layer of each color on the intermediate transfer member 26. Next, at the timing when the visible image on the intermediate transfer member 26 is placed on the paper 29, the paper 29 is fed from the paper cassette 28 and the intermediate transfer member 26 and the transfer roll 27 are biased and transferred to the paper 29. Next, the visible image is fixed on the paper 29 by the fixing device 30, and the printing is completed. In FIG. 2, when there is color information of each color (cyan, magenta, yellow, black), the controller 17 outputs the print signal a and then the video signal c such as black data, cyan data, magenta data, and yellow data is output. It shows the timing until the end. First, the controller 17 outputs the print request a, the black request signal d, the cyan request signal e, the magenta request signal f, and the yellow request signal g to the engine 19 at the same time. Next, a vertical synchronizing signal b is output from the engine 19 to the controller 17, and black, cyan, magenta, and yellow video signals c are output from the controller 17 to the engine 19 in synchronization with this signal. In FIG. 3, when there is color information of three colors of each color (magenta, yellow, black), the controller 17 outputs the print signal a, and then the video signal c such as black data, magenta data, and yellow data is completely output. It shows the timing up to. First, the controller 17 outputs a black request signal d, a magenta request signal f, and a yellow request signal g to the engine 19 at the same time as the print signal a. Next, the vertical synchronizing signal b is output from the engine 19 to the controller 17, and the black, magenta, and yellow video signals c are output from the controller 17 to the engine 19 in synchronization with this signal. In this case, no video signal is output from the controller for the fourth vertical synchronizing signal, and the engine 19 does not perform the developing operation.

Next, these operations will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. First in step 1,
Transfer print data from the host computer to the controller. In step 2, the controller detects color information (black, cyan, magenta, yellow) from the transferred print data. In step 3, the detected color information is stored in the memory 31. Next, in step 4, cyan, magenta, and black page data are created from the transferred data. When the page data creation is completed, in step 5, the controller outputs a print signal and color information to the engine. In step 6,
The engine stores the received color information in the memory 33. At the same time, in step 7, each motor is turned on so that the engine can print immediately. The engine checks in step 8 if printing is possible immediately. Next, in step 9, it is checked whether or not there is an information image to be printed in the color information. When there is no color information, the engine immediately goes to step 41, stops each motor and stops the printing operation.

If there is information, it is checked in step 10 whether it is the timing for generating a vertical sync signal for vertical sync. At the timing of generating the vertical synchronizing signal, in step 11, the engine outputs the vertical synchronizing signal to the controller. Next, in step 12, the controller checks whether or not there is black information in the color information. If not, the process proceeds to step 17. If so, in step 13, the controller outputs black data to the engine. The engine is in step 14,
It is checked whether or not there is black information in the color information in the memory 33. If there is no black information, if the process proceeds to step 17, then in step 15, the developing device is brought close to the photoconductor to perform development. Next, in step 16, the black information in the color information is cleared. Similar to the operation steps 9 to 16 performed for black, cyan step 1
The same applies to steps 7 to 24, magenta steps 25 to 32, and yellow steps 33 to 40. Finally, in step 41, the engine 19 controls to turn off each motor and finishes printing.

[0015]

As is apparent from the above-described embodiments, the color image device of the present invention can minimize the number of development processes when performing color printing, thus reducing the waste of the development process associated with the printing process. Therefore, it is possible to realize an excellent color image device that can be eliminated and can shorten the printing time.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a color image device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a waveform diagram of each part of the color image device.

FIG. 3 is a waveform chart of each part of the color image device.

FIG. 4 is an operation flowchart of the color image device.

FIG. 5 is an operation flowchart of the color image device.

FIG. 6 is an operation flowchart of the color image device.

FIG. 7 is an operation flowchart of the color image device.

FIG. 8 is an operation flowchart of the color image device.

FIG. 9 is an operation flowchart of the color image device.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram of a conventional color image device.

FIG. 11 is a waveform chart of each part of the color image device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 17 Controller 19 Engine 20 Developing Device (Yellow) 21 Developing Device (Magenta) 22 Developing Device (Cyan) 23 Developing Device (Black) 24 Laser Unit 31, 33 Memory 34 Image Forming Section

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁵ Identification code Office reference number FI technical display location G03G 15/01 114 A 7818-2H

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An image processing unit for performing color printing and an image forming unit, wherein a unit for detecting a necessary color component and a memory unit for storing a color component are respectively imaged with respect to an image input signal. A color image device having a processing means side and an image forming means side, and having a signal means for transmitting a color component from the image processing means side to the image forming means side to form a color image.